Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Glass panel done for Her Majesty Elisabetta
A while back, I was asked by Lady Isabella to create a stained glass panel for Her Majesty as a gift from the Autocrat of Her Majesty's Queen's Champion event held at Castleton this year. It was a great success, and I had all kinds of fun creating it. Below are the pictures showing the progress of the whole thing, from drawing the cartoon to the final piece. Needless to say, Queen Elisabetta was quite pleased, and even called me up into Court.....and she even hugged me! Later that night, she totally stealth-Queen'ed Claire and I at the tables near the tavern. I think that night was the first night I truly understood the 'courtly love' all rapier fighters have for the Queen. I was smitten, and ever since, I honestly think she is just amazing :) So here for the enjoyment of whoever might want to see.....the birth of the Queen's heraldic panel :)
Progress on the E.S Project
This is how far Ive come on my beaded had for my Elizabeth Seyntmaur project. So far, Ive gotten responses from people ranging from 'Wow, thats gorgeous!' to 'You are insane!' to 'You have wayyyy too much time on your hands.' LOL
In any event, Im about done and hoping to have it done by the end of sunday at the latest. Once the beaded cover is done, I will be wrapping the hat frame and sewing/ gluing it all down. Ive decided NOT to attach the wires permanently, that way I can wear the truncated henin with other veils or without any at all if I want. To limit myself like that just doesnt seem the smart thing to do.
So here we go.....the pictures of the work so far. The flashy beads are gold foil rocaille beads, and the center dots are garnet round beads. The pattern is what I copied from the brass rubbing of Elizabeth, which I then cut out from a blank stencil template that I drew up. I used gold fabric paint to do the pattern.
As for the dress, I have decided to go with a soft petal pink, a totally period color, and out of the softest linen I could get my hands on. It should look absolutely smashing, and when paired with the velvet belt with brass fittings from Raymond's Quiet Press that are a perfect replica of the belt Elizabeth wore in the rubbing, I literally should look like Ive stepped right out of a scroll. At least, thats the idea.....
More to come once the beadwork is done!
In any event, Im about done and hoping to have it done by the end of sunday at the latest. Once the beaded cover is done, I will be wrapping the hat frame and sewing/ gluing it all down. Ive decided NOT to attach the wires permanently, that way I can wear the truncated henin with other veils or without any at all if I want. To limit myself like that just doesnt seem the smart thing to do.
So here we go.....the pictures of the work so far. The flashy beads are gold foil rocaille beads, and the center dots are garnet round beads. The pattern is what I copied from the brass rubbing of Elizabeth, which I then cut out from a blank stencil template that I drew up. I used gold fabric paint to do the pattern.
As for the dress, I have decided to go with a soft petal pink, a totally period color, and out of the softest linen I could get my hands on. It should look absolutely smashing, and when paired with the velvet belt with brass fittings from Raymond's Quiet Press that are a perfect replica of the belt Elizabeth wore in the rubbing, I literally should look like Ive stepped right out of a scroll. At least, thats the idea.....
More to come once the beadwork is done!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Heraldic yumminess for a friend
My E.S. project has been great fun, and I continue to work on it, perfecting it since I have the time to do so now. However, endless beadwork and research and planning a dress can get tedious, and a bit......well, endless. Knowing how I am when faced with such a situation, I did what always works for me. I took a break.
Putting the beadwork down, I decided to have a go with heraldry. After all, I do like heraldry, especially heraldic display and heraldic clothing. That said, I also knew that if I was going to do something like that, it would need to be something easily recognized by a large group of people in case I wanted to show it for an arts competition. I have plenty of SCA friends that have a really impressive fruit salad.....Sir Gaston, Baroness Claire, etc. that I could have chosen for a heraldry project, but the one person that I decided to do this for is certainly one of the most deserving of a little hero worship.
His Grace, Duke Aaron McGregor
Aaron is a very kind gentleman, definitely a knight in every way, but what always gets me about him is that he treats every person as if they were his equal or better. He does not look down his nose at anyone, he is fair, and his pride in his people, his Kingdom, is so strong I continually stand in awe to hear him tell tales and recount the history of the Kingdom he has had a stake in making so great.
Another thing that always gets me about Aaron is that he is so humble. For some reason which I dont think I will ever understand, he does not believe himself worthy of admiration, or gifts, or the service of those around him. If asked whether or not he would like an artisan to make him some new clothes, he will smile shyly and suggest that he would be honored, but only if everyone else already has the clothes they need. If asked whether or not he might like someone to bring him some water or perhaps a snack, he would appreciate it but never asks.....he would rather everyone else enjoy such things, he will go last. His level of self-sacrifice and willingness to be so giving consistently warms my heart and reminds me of the romance of chivalry that, for me, was one of the factors that lured me to the SCA in the first place.
I decided to combine my love of heraldry with my appreciation of such a wonderful person, and have come up with my latest project (which will be completed tonight, yes!) I dug around the heraldry pages at the Kingdom webpage, and came up with some information about Duke Aaron, namely his 'fruit salad' or awards listing. Surprisingly, almost shockingly, he doesnt have a ton of stuff to his name, but what he does have is meaningful and significant. To do honor to this, I researched the details of each award, the tinctures, and placed them within my design.
When I am done, I will post a picture here since I found the cam and stuff I need to post. Its definitely one of my best heraldry display pieces, and I am very excited to see his reaction tomorrow at PiP. To see the mans smile at receiving a gift he has no idea is coming his way should be a pleasure in and of itself :)
Putting the beadwork down, I decided to have a go with heraldry. After all, I do like heraldry, especially heraldic display and heraldic clothing. That said, I also knew that if I was going to do something like that, it would need to be something easily recognized by a large group of people in case I wanted to show it for an arts competition. I have plenty of SCA friends that have a really impressive fruit salad.....Sir Gaston, Baroness Claire, etc. that I could have chosen for a heraldry project, but the one person that I decided to do this for is certainly one of the most deserving of a little hero worship.
His Grace, Duke Aaron McGregor
Aaron is a very kind gentleman, definitely a knight in every way, but what always gets me about him is that he treats every person as if they were his equal or better. He does not look down his nose at anyone, he is fair, and his pride in his people, his Kingdom, is so strong I continually stand in awe to hear him tell tales and recount the history of the Kingdom he has had a stake in making so great.
Another thing that always gets me about Aaron is that he is so humble. For some reason which I dont think I will ever understand, he does not believe himself worthy of admiration, or gifts, or the service of those around him. If asked whether or not he would like an artisan to make him some new clothes, he will smile shyly and suggest that he would be honored, but only if everyone else already has the clothes they need. If asked whether or not he might like someone to bring him some water or perhaps a snack, he would appreciate it but never asks.....he would rather everyone else enjoy such things, he will go last. His level of self-sacrifice and willingness to be so giving consistently warms my heart and reminds me of the romance of chivalry that, for me, was one of the factors that lured me to the SCA in the first place.
I decided to combine my love of heraldry with my appreciation of such a wonderful person, and have come up with my latest project (which will be completed tonight, yes!) I dug around the heraldry pages at the Kingdom webpage, and came up with some information about Duke Aaron, namely his 'fruit salad' or awards listing. Surprisingly, almost shockingly, he doesnt have a ton of stuff to his name, but what he does have is meaningful and significant. To do honor to this, I researched the details of each award, the tinctures, and placed them within my design.
When I am done, I will post a picture here since I found the cam and stuff I need to post. Its definitely one of my best heraldry display pieces, and I am very excited to see his reaction tomorrow at PiP. To see the mans smile at receiving a gift he has no idea is coming his way should be a pleasure in and of itself :)
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